I filled out my "paperwork" on an ipad.
The x-rays were digital and immediately showed up on the giant monitor suspended in front of me.
They took up-close and very detailed photos of all my teeth with a camera on a stick, which then also showed up on the monitor right in front of me. TMI, I say.
Even through my poorest years B.E. (Before Ernst) I managed to get to the dentist and get things taken care of. I take reasonable care of my tea-stained not so pearly whites and I'm not afraid of the dentist, but for unknown reasons it had been awhile. Let's just say they had to numb me up and do some under the gum scraping. Under the gum scraping makes chalk board scratching sound and feel like a Mozart sonata. Never again, never again; I will go every 6 months like a good little patient. For Pete's sake, we even have very basic dental insurance, why did I wait so long?
On to the pocketbook draining part. My front teeth are fine, but as in the past, I have old fillings coming to haunt me. After they took the photos of my two latest renegade teeth, they left me to stare at the large monitor and the two pictures of these back teeth that I never look at because I don't have a periscope at home. Man amalgam fillings are scary looking. They look like melted nickles. Unfortunately, to replace them costs more than unmelted nickles. The dreaded word INLAY was proposed. Inlayed wood flooring. Inlayed counter tops. Not cheap. Inlayed tooth fillings? Not cheap either. And the worst part is that no one can see them!
Nothing I could have done now could have helped the outdated fillings. But, the dentist really recommended I stop flossing and start using a Waterpik. Nothing like some deep under the gum scraping to convince me to buy another appliance. But where in the world to put it? Our bathroom is so small. The sink has no room. On the back of the toilet? Gross. Can a person Waterpik in the garage on top of the washing machine? Out on the porch? We could get a puppy tip for Molly. Do they make car versions that plug into the cigarette lighter? Maybe there's a smart phone app. Oh right, I still have a dumb phone because we spent all our money on teeth no one sees without a periscope.
picture credits: asu.edu and pamsclipart.com
